Last Updated on October 18, 2025 by Sheryl Cooper
Inside: Creating preschool fall science activities can be easy when thinking about nature and what’s living around us outdoors. Here are some fun hands-on ideas that young children love!
We love exploring science in the fall! Well, we love exploring science all year…but there is something special about fall. At least where I live! And so, putting together preschool science ideas for fall is pretty easy. We take a look at what’s going on in nature and plan around it.
This year we explored:
🌻 Sunflowers
🕷 Spiders
🐿 Squirrels and Acorns
🦉 Owls
🎃 Pumpkins
We used the same themes for both our toddlers and preschoolers, but removed the smaller pieces for the toddlers. Both ages enjoyed the hands-on environment.
Explore Nature with these Preschool Fall Science Activities
We have a small round table in our classroom that we use for science and exploration. I love using plexiglass page holders to display pictures and text. By propping them vertically, they create a nice invitation for our children, plus they don’t take up as much space on the table.
You can see our full year’s worth of tables here: How to Set Up. your Preschool Science Center
Sunflowers
Every September we explore sunflowers. We ask around who might have some mammoth sunflowers that are ready to be harvested. We then place them on our science table, along with tweezers to pull out the seeds.
Sometimes our families donate the harvested sunflowers that we planted in the spring.
Related post: Growing Sunflowers in the Classroom
We display sunflowers in vases to brighten our classroom. We extend this activity to our art table, where we create a large sunflower bulletin board, and we have fun with a sunflower sensory bin.
Spiders
Spiders are all around us, especially in the fall when we find them all over our outdoor play area. We love to explore their webs, looking to see if the spider is still attached.
Our spider science table included plush toy spiders, spider fact books, and a spider discovery bottle.
Itsy Bitsy Spider Circle Time Activity
- Toddlers
- Preschool
I created a pretend spider web across the window above our science table and added some spider rings. We also enjoyed a spider counting craft at the art table.
Related: 15+ Spider Activities
Free printable spider counting cards!
Download and print these cards to add to your spider theme:
Squirrels
In September and October we see a couple of squirrels above our outdoor play area, most often carrying nuts in their mouths. I created a science table that included our beloved tree blocks, acorns, and some squirrel books.
You can see more of this in my squirrels and acorns science post.
Related post: 20 Fun Activities for a Preschool Squirrel Theme
Owls
While talking about animals that are awake during the night, we included owls at our science table.
After reading books about owls, we made a flying owl craft to put on our bulletin board.
More owl activities: 15 Hands-On Preschool Owl Activities
Pumpkins
Of course, no fall science curriculum is complete unless it covers pumpkins. We extended this with a fine motor pumpkin activity and pumpkin painting.
Related: Exploring the Inside of a Pumpkin
Free Pumpkin Printable
Favorite Science Products on Amazon
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